Originally posted by FooF:Has anyone seen a samsung 244t in action yet? how much does the 6ms panel cut down on blurring?

I went ahead and ordered the 244t, and boy is the input lag bad

It's definately going back unless someone finds a miraculous fix. Too bad because this monitor has SUPERB image quality even in games. For any gamer who cares though, avoid it like the plague. You'll have a hell of a time in counterstrike, and games like quake3 are even worse.

There are reports that bringing the video card hardware accel slider down one notch helped for some people, but even if it reduced lag somewhat in windows for me, games still seem to be just as slow to respond to mouse input.

EDIT:I talked to a samsung tech higher-up and he said that the input lag was just normal for these monitors. He seemed to know just what i was talking about too. I explained how the mouse movement lagged behind my actual input as compared to my CRT.

So if you play games at all, I would avoid a 244t at all costs unless you ONLY play maybe warcraft or something else not requireing precision. At the very least, buy from a retailer that has a no questions asked return policy. I got mine from newegg and they insist on making me eat a $200 restocking fee.

odd is this using the monitor's built in usb inputs or just lag from the video signal?

Well, if you can put up with the input-lag, http://www.circuitcity.com is having a sale ($1100 before rebate) on them. I haven't tried it, but you might be able to stack a 10% off coupon (coupon code 100264248, expires 05/27), for $800 after rebate.

I bought a Gateway FPD2185W a few months ago, and while I'm supremely lucky my backlight is relatively even, I've realized that I'm not ready for widescreen gaming. (Mostly because my games don't support it, so I end up pillarboxing my games to 1400x1050!)

I just read that the Samsung 215TW's component-input 'stretches' 720p input to fit the screen. Is that true?

The Gateway FPD2185W gives the user the videophile option of non-strech (1:1), but unfortunately, the component-input suffers from excess noise (very visible in dark areas.) If I didn't know better, I'd guess the gain-circuit in front of the video-ADC was set improperly (for VGA levels instead of YPbPr.)

What are people's experiences with glossy LCDs? I'm really happy with my 2405, and thinking about eventually getting another... but I've been really impressed with some of the glossy laptop screens I've seen and havent seen anything comparable in stand alone lcds (then again I dont really know where to look).

Firetear: I got a that lcd and a glossy laptop a few months ago, and I can't say as I see any reason why this gloss thing has taken off unless it's just a thing to make it look good in the stores (but they don't even sell Dell in stores...?!?).

Anyone know what the deal is? AFAICT it just makes for more reflection, especially on a laptop when chances of sitting with a window or something bright behind you is reasonable... so I do get a lot of glare. I deal with it by adjusting the screen angle, but it seems dumb.

I haven't cracked the lcd monitor yet cuz i just haven't been home but maybe I can compare the two sometime soon.

BTW, is there any consensus on the best dead pixel checker? I cringe at reading 200+ pages of this thread to fid the consensus. I wish there was an article about that on ars.

Anybody here still using good old Dell 2000FP? I bought mine back in 2002 (paid $1,100 then!) and it still works beautifully after 4 years. I remember promising myself that I would use this monitor until it dies as kind of a justification to myself for spending so much money on a monitor. And hey - monitor is the only component of the computer that you look at for many hours a day - it better be good.

I look back the past four years, and am surprised by how much has changed. I think all my friends had CRT monitors back in 2002, and now none of them have CRT monitors. So much has changed in just four years.

I have not thought much about upgrading, but with the 2405FPW / 2407FPW priced so low, I may break my promise.

My brother still uses his 2000FP (and also his 2405FP). Like someone else said, it's a great monitor--even now.

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Originally posted by Black Jacque:

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Anybody here still using good old Dell 2000FP?

I'm waiting for the 3007FP to go on sale. It will be on a Thursday, and there will be 20% Off and Free Shipping, then I'm going to get one.

Where'd you get this info about the 30% off, dude?

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Originally posted by pdontthink:BTW, is there any consensus on the best dead pixel checker? I cringe at reading 200+ pages of this thread to fid the consensus. I wish there was an article about that on ars.

Heh, I'm still using a 21" Sony GDM-500PS CRT at the moment that I bought back in 1998 for around $800.

I just stopped in because it was acting funky a few minutes ago and it made me think it might be on its way out. Other than the weight and size factor I haven't had a reason to get rid of it. The picture is still pretty decent even after all these years.

I'm seriously thinking about buying myself a Dell 2007WFP right now, because they are on sale for 20% off. $367.20, plus shipping.

I'm just not 100% sold on the feature list. The dell site says it only has 16ms response time; I'd prefer something a bit lower. Also, I've been hearing rumors of "color banding" on similar models, and that's worrying me a bit. Is this a good monitor for gaming and general office tasks? I'm not a world-class FPS-er or anything, but I'd prefer to avoid unnecessary ghosting or the like.

Though many would have called this the 'Dell LCD' thread last year around this time, the truth of the matter is that we haven't heard much on the newest 20incher from Dell here. That may be because the thread has languished a bit and people have posted their impressions elsewhere though.

The early issues with banding are apparently being resolved. Somebody left Faroudja DCDi enabled in all modes, including DVI and VGA modes, instead of only enabled for Composite, S-Video, and Component (on the 2407). You'd think Dell would think of these potential problems before releasing the product, but this is the same Dell which cannot for the life of them figure out that 480i's native aspect ratio is 4:3, not 3:2. Sigh.

chintz, at a 60hz refresh rate, I don't see any reason to go faster than 16ms, since you wouldn't be able to see it anyway. (1000 milliseconds / 60 fps = 16.67 ms/frame.)

At low resolutions you might be able to crank up to 120hz refresh and use 8ms pixels, but by the time you get up to 1920x1200, regular (single-link) DVI can only manage 60fps by cutting down on the vblank time.

If you're a gamer good enough to actually worry about this level of refresh rate, you have no business being on an LCD anyway... you want a CRT. If you're a normal user, I can't imagine why you'd need anything faster than 16ms.

I think their pixel-policy is fairly standard. I don't know of any retailer who will take back a monitor for a few dead pixels (unless maybe they're grouped very tightly). Although, if you buy a Dell, you can always bitch about something else (like a broken stand, etc) and they'll send you an entirely new monitor.

I've used both, and I prefer the 204B as it's definitely a faster response time monitor. Color reproduction is pretty good, although I haven't done a side-by-side comparison with a 2007FP (I strongly suspect the 2007FP is better there).

Although, admittedly, I haven't spent very much time gaming on the 2007FP to establish a comprehensive impression.

Widescreen is ok; but I just don't like it for my dual monitor setups.

Originally posted by malor:chintz, at a 60hz refresh rate, I don't see any reason to go faster than 16ms, since you wouldn't be able to see it anyway. (1000 milliseconds / 60 fps = 16.67 ms/frame.)

At low resolutions you might be able to crank up to 120hz refresh and use 8ms pixels, but by the time you get up to 1920x1200, regular (single-link) DVI can only manage 60fps by cutting down on the vblank time.

Hmm, interesting... I'd never considered that.

quote:

If you're a gamer good enough to actually worry about this level of refresh rate, you have no business being on an LCD anyway... you want a CRT. If you're a normal user, I can't imagine why you'd need anything faster than 16ms.

I think their pixel-policy is fairly standard. I don't know of any retailer who will take back a monitor for a few dead pixels (unless maybe they're grouped very tightly). Although, if you buy a Dell, you can always bitch about something else (like a broken stand, etc) and they'll send you an entirely new monitor.

Not at all. newegg's LCD return policy is positively draconian. In fact, I am not a fan of their return policy in general. This thread has been advising against purchasing LCDs from newegg, as long as I can remember (almost 4.5 years).

Back in the day before they went defunct, we had monitorsdirect that allowed you to test the monitor and return it no questions asked. You don't need to bitch to Dell about anything. They have a 'No questions asked', return policy and as long as it is not abused, I see that as the best way to purchase a product.

I have not been in the retail LCD market for a while so I don't know if there are any other retailers (B&M or web) who allow similar returns, but I am sure they exist.

Run a search, I think there was a 2007FPW thread recently specifically discussing the banding issue. Your revision will be on the back next to the serial number somewhere.

On a different note, courtesy of SlickDeals.net, here's a real great price ($640) on the Acer 24" LCD with DVI over at Staples. No component inputs though and the Euro version is d-sub only (wtf were they thinking?) although it doesn't matter with regards to the above-mentioned deal.

Originally posted by monakh:Run a search, I think there was a 2007FPW thread recently specifically discussing the banding issue. Your revision will be on the back next to the serial number somewhere.

On a different note, courtesy of SlickDeals.net, here's a real great price ($640) on the Acer 24" LCD with DVI over at Staples. No component inputs though and the Euro version is d-sub only (wtf were they thinking?) although it doesn't matter with regards to the above-mentioned deal.

So I'd really like to get a 20.1", either widescreen or 4:3, my main concern is scaling. My computer won't be anywhere near powerful enough to run Oblivion @ native 20.1" resolution (A64 3200+, 2gig Ram, x1800xt 512meg that will be replacing an x800xl ) but I'd like a 20.1" for the screen real estate and the 1600x1200 (or 1680x1050) resolution for the desktop. I'm REALLY interested in the NEC 20wmgx2 (the $640 one at newegg) but does it scale well at all? Specifically down to the widescreen equivalents of 1024*768 and 1280*1024?

edit: What I'm getting at is if it's doable to get one of these monitors to scale down for certain games because otherwise it's time for a big nasty system upgrade.

Sigh... my new 2007WFP came yesterday, and I'm somewhat sad to say that the banding issue seems to be hitting me. It's a great monitor as far as I'm concerned otherwise, but the color reproduction is... shall we say a touch erratic.

I'd post a pic, but image hosting is down at the moment and I don't want to deal with cheesy webhosts.

Anyone have any advice for LCD'ing on a budget? I've gotten all my CRT monitors in the past used from FS forums or craigslist, and I figure that LCDs have been around long enough that I can get somthing reasonable for pretty cheap.

There's a 2001FP for sale in the agora that I've got my eye on-- would it be better to pony up the extra money for a newer model (especially if I do a lot of gaming)? We're talking the difference between $275 and whatever a quality newer (albiet hopefully used) panel would be.

I do a lot of working with documents on my computer (grad student), but I still want an LCD that is decent for photoshop and playing world of warcraft every once in a while. I can't spend any more than $400, so I was thinking of getting the Dell 1907FP, but after reading some reviews, I've also looked at the NEC 90 GX2 and the ViewSonic VX924 -- those two seem like they are aimed more at gamers. Are there any other models I should consider?

My current monitor is a 15" Apple Studio Display (also LCD), but it's 6 years old, and gives me a lot of eyestrain. I'm sure anything I would buy would be an improvement, but I want to stretch my money as far as I can Thanks for any help .